The significance of Jaden Smith’s skirt
A comparative research on the skirt of Jaden Smith, Jean Paul Gaultier’s Man Skirt and the Scottish kilt
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MINOR Fashion Theories
COURSE Power, Culture & Identity
LECTURER Sanne Koevoets & Charlotte Dwyer
STUDENT Beau Meeuwisse
STUDENT NUMBER 500730514
E-MAIL Beau.meeuwisse@hva.nl
Index
INDEX 2
ABSTRACT 3
INTRODUCTION 3
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 5
JADEN SMITH 6
JEAN PAUL GAULTIER 10
SCOTTISH KILT 12
CONCLUSION 14
RESOURCE LIST 15
IMAGES 15
Abstract
Through the comparison of three different skirts – Jaden Smith’s skirts, Jean Paul Gaultier’s Man Skirt and the Scottish Kilt – this papers gives insight in the significance of Smith’s skirts. Smith is wearing the skirts as he claims that clothes do not have any gender. Through the theory of Butler’s notion of performativity and subversion, Smith is subverting the gender system as he is wearing clothes that are not conforming heteronormativity. But he is not wearing the clothes to explicitly show that gender is a construction; he is rather making visible that there is something else to express through clothes like gender fluidity and feelings about the world and yourself. Therefor, Smith is breaking with the conventions of the strict division between male and female by performing a whole different performance the world might not be used to yet. In this way the notion of gender that becomes real through iterating actions is not suitable for fashion anymore. Smith is a representation of a youth culture that is more aware of the gender norms and because it has made progress in time, the performativity concerning fashion is becoming slowly out-dated.
Introduction
Women wearing men’s clothes is nothing new. A woman can easily wear baggy jeans, a suit or a shirt of the male’s shopping department while it is rather difficult for a man to wear a dress or skirt without him being called gay and other names. It is important to be aware that fashion has nothing to do with gender or sexuality but it can be considered a way of expressing how you feel or who you are. The high-fashion world is getting aware of this shift in the gender system. For example, Gucci announced to show their collection for men’s and women’s wear A/W 2017 at the same show instead of separate. (Friedmand, 2016) Although this is not completely breaking rules of the binary gender system, it is a huge progress in this gender-fluidity discussion. Gutterman (2001) points to the great potential residing in heterosexual men who identify with femininity to subvert and disrupt existing gendernorms. ‘’Straight men with an interest in disrupting these categories ‘can work to dismantle the system from positions of power by challenging the very standards of identity that afford them normative status in the culture’’’ according to Gutterman (2001). Although straight men do not have to identify with femininity to be able to subvert and disrupt gender norms, he is wright that the heterosexual men can make a big change and break the gender system. Through subversion of the gender norms, by for example wearing female clothes like Jaden Smith, the heterosexual man can show that gender is a social construction and revolt this from inside out. But before the heterosexual man can be able to do this, he has to be aware of the social gender constructions in the first place. But the average person is not shopping at high-fashion brands and is often not educated about the gender system. The mainstream is shopping at high street labels such as Zara and H&M. Zara launched their first ‘Ungendered’ collection in March 2016. (Sharkey, 2016) Unfortunately the clothes were rather masculine with a gender-neutral label instead of designs that really pushed the boundaries. It was very obvious that they tried to exploit the gender-trend but they didn’t make an actual change in society’s awareness. The website was not consistent in using the term Ungendered – removing trace of masculine/feminine – but mixed it up with unisex – designed to fit both masculine and feminine body. Also their physical stores did not change anything as there were no genderless fitting rooms and on the website their Ungendered collection is to be found under the button of women’s collection.
Jaden Smith, eighteen years old, is one of the people that is very aware of this gender system and who is trying to revolt the system from inside out. He wears dresses and skirts and posts pictures of it on social media. He gains a lot of media attention for it and receives mixed positive and negative reactions. He tries to revolt the gender system and raise awareness from within but not by wearing women’s wear as he claims that fashion does not have any gender. (Jacobs, 2016) He is actually dressing in the way he feels about the world and himself, which can switch everyday. (Woolf, 2015) Him, as a case study for this paper, is interesting as he is a young boy trying to educate the world. His words reach millions of people because he is an internationally famous man.
To gain the knowledge of the differences between the skirt of Jaden Smith, Jean Paul Gaultier’s Man Skirt and the Scottish kilt this paper uses the comparative research methodology. Four points are being observed and compared to gain the insight what the significance is of the skirt of Smith and to what extend he is breaking the gender norms. 1) Context, 2) significance, 3) gender suberversion and 4) meaning. Comparing these four points will give insight and tries to answer the question: what is the significance of the skirt of Jaden Smith?
Theoretical framework
Judith Butler is known for the notion of performativity. According to Butler (1990) is gender a social construction that people do in everyday life. Gender becomes something through repeated actions we do and she calls this the performance of gender. (Butler, 1990) In other words, when a girl puts on some make up this is an action that makes visible she is a girl. In Western culture this is to be seen as a feminine action and therefore the girl is visible as a girl. This also means that people are not born with a gender but that it is something we learn to do by repeating those actions. As a young boy or girl you are praised or disciplined when doing these actions, you learn what is ‘wright’ and ‘wrong’, you internalize these actions. A lot of people are not aware of this and we do these actions unconsciously, therefore, it feels natural to do them. (Butler, 1990) When gender is a performance we do in our day-to-day lives, this is also visible in the choices we make in the way we dress. Think about buying clothes, the stores are always divided in men and women’s department and while most do not think about it, they choose to wear clothes that suit their gender. It feels natural for women to shop at the women’s department because this is conforming the conventions of Western culture. When choosing what to wear in the morning, most men would not wear high heels to their work because this action would not fit the heteronormative conventions. Thus, every choice people make, every action they do, is making their gender visible. Now the discussion about gender and fashion is opening up in fashion world, first needs to be said that fashion does not have any gender. It is the convention Western society has about that piece of fabric that makes them gendered. People are getting more aware of this social construction about gender and fashion. And the notion of subversion of gender is suitable for this paper. Subversion means making visible that gender is but a social construction by doing the actions that are not suitable for your gender through heteronormative eyes. (Butler, 1990) In other words, when a man is wearing high heels to his work and dressing feminine, he is turning gender upside down. He is showing others that it is possible to wear women’s clothes and that he still is a man, he is showing that the construction of the masculine gender is but a construction. For example, Conchita Wurst is a bearded lady. He is born as a man, performs on stage as a woman but he still has his beard. Therefore, he is showing that gender is something we do, that can be turn around and that wearing a dress does not makes you a woman yet. In this sense, doing gender is a conscious choice and socially a very important one.
Jaden Smith
Jaden Smith is a man of eighteen years old who has been famous for his whole life due to his famous parents – actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. He gained significance media attention with his gender fluid clothing style. At the age of seventeen he started to wear dresses and skirts, not always perceived well by the media and public. But Jaden is not concerned about others’ opinions about his clothes, music or art and will not hold back his way of expressing himself because he is not scared to gain attention – negative or positive. Will Smith (2016, 3:58) said in an interview: ‘’he is 100% fearless and willing to live and die by his own artistic decisions.’’ The creative director of Louis Vuitton’s women’s wear, Nicolas Ghesquière, noticed his style and so Smith’s first big ad campaign was for Louis Vuitton’s women’s wear spring/summer 2016 (image 2). In this ad campaign he is wearing clothes from the runway of the women’s fashion show, a black leather jacket (look No. 2, originally worn by Lily Stewart), a white cotton and metal embroidered top (look No. 24) and a metal embroidered kilt (look No. 3). (Friedman, 2016)
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He is often asked about the reason for wearing girl’s clothes and Smith claims that his clothes aren’t girl’s clothes, just clothes (image 5). In other words he is denying that clothes are gendered from within because they are just pieces of fabric sewed together and that society genders them because of their cultural values they believe in. Therefore, Jaden is stressing the boundaries of the gender normativity by wearing those girls’ clothes. But he also became a representation for those who identify as non-binary gender, so not exclusively male or female (Jacobs, 2016) because he is showing the public that you can also express gender fluidity through fashion.
Smith is wearing the women’s clothes not only when he is performing on stage – he is also a musician. But he is wearing it also in his spare time. For example on Coachella Festival in 2015 (image 3) he was wearing a so-called mini-skirt and red flowers in his hair. Wearing women’s clothes whenever he feels like proves that it is not just a performance or image he creates on stage but rather expressing his identity in daily life. Therefore, he is creating space for people to not only subvert the gender as a form of art – as a musician, drag queen etcetera – but to take it to the next level and subvert gender in our day to day lives.
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Jaden Smith’s skirts, for example the one he wears on the cover of the Korean Vogue (image 4) or in the ad campaign for Louis Vuitton’s women’s wear (image 2), are not gender neutral, gender free, gender bending or whatever terms used for the past couple of years. In fact, the skirts he wears are from the women’s department and the skirts are completely ‘gendered’ as women’s clothes. What makes this specific case study so interesting is that the gender of the garment didn’t change but the person wearing it. Lehnert (2010) argues that clothes are not the only thing that defines he is a man. But that the man is also readable as a man because he wears clothes in a way defined by his culture as masculine and therefore appropriate to his gender and even to his sex. In other words, people’s clothes and their behaviour are interpreted as signs indicating their gender. So clothes as well as fashion always signify something, whether this is intended by the wearer or not. (Lehnert, 2010) In other words, the clothes worn in the Western culture are through cultural conventions defined as masculine or feminine. And the reason that Smith’s fashion style gains so much attention is that the signifier signifies another gender then the conventions of Western culture. It is something we are not used to, thus, it is harder to read the subject without making assumptions about his gender and sexuality.
Butler describes in Bodies that Matter (1990) the activity of a girl putting on a dress as an action of ‘girling’ through which the subject is made intelligible through action. And according to Butler (1990) there is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender. In other words, people are actively – often unconsciously – performing a gender and this performance exists out of multiple actions in day-to-day life. The actions of the performance are not a result of the gender but creating the gender by repeating these actions. (Butler, 1990) In other words, every choice and action somebody makes, makes his or her gender visible. Putting on clothes, the way you sit, the words you say, and everything else you do creates gender. The subject can subvert the gender norms by repeating actions that are not considered suitable, through heteronormative eyes, for the subject’s gender/sex. (Nayak & Kehily, 2006) In this way the subject makes visible that gender is a social construction and a performance. Nayak & Kehily (2006, p. 461) argues: ‘’the incitement of normative gender behaviour and sexual codes of practice gives rise to an irrepressible proliferation of ‘other’ sex/gender possibilities.’’ Smith is aware of the performance of gender and he is playing with it publicly. His actions – in this case wearing women’s clothes –signify femininity while he is fully aware of these actions and their signifiers. He, therefore, is subverting gender norms by repeating the actions – he does it quite often, feels comfortable doing it and therefore happens natural to him – and gives form to his gender fluidity, in other words, the irrepressible ‘other’ gender possibilities. He doesn’t require the heternormative standards: as a male wearing male clothes, but he as a male wears female clothes to give expression of his gender fluidity. Smith’s gender performance includes variety of expressions. Sometimes he is wearing a more feminine colourful skirt, sometimes he wears a skirt considered to be more masculine and sometimes he wears something completely different like a Batman suit. According to Nicolas Ghesquière Smith is wearing whatever makes him feel comfortable. Wearing a skirt comes as naturally to him as it would to a woman who gave herself permission to wear a man’s trench or a tuxedo. (Friedman, 2016) But more important he claims that he has never seen any distinction in gender so therefore he does not see the distinction in men’s clothes and women’s clothes. (Jacobs, 2016) This fact makes Smith free of heteronormativity as he is not inclined to see the dualistic division of male and female. His own gender fluidity is also visible in the rest of the outfit. Quite some times he combines his skirt with a more masculine look for example in the Korean Vogue (image 4). Here he combines his skirt with a red flower, blue nail polish with his bare, rather masculine, muscular upper body. Whereas a drag pulls off the entire performance of a female to make the gender constructions visible, Smith’s performance is rather a mix of multiple genders or so to say no gender at all. He gives expression to the way he feels so his clothing style is just as fluid as his feelings. Smith (2016) says: ‘’he feels everyday different about himself and the world.’’ (Jacobs, 2016) Butler (1990) argues that heterosexuality and the thought of gender division – male/female – as discussed above is the norm. She published Gender Trouble (1990) and Bodies that Matter (1993) for over twenty-five years ago. Smith’s performance of not only gender fluidity but also of his feelings shows that the thoughts about these strict divisions are slowly shifting in youth culture. Then why does he gain so much attention of the media with his gender fluidity? One important thing to keep in mind is the fact that Smith is a young boy with a lot of confidence and whose parents encourage him to express the way he feels. He is raised with the attitude that you have to live your life without fear and to ‘go out there’ and try things that might fail. (Will Smith, 2016) As a boy he adapted this mind-set completely and as a result he does not care about others opinions as long as he feels comfortable. Also, he is closely related to the high-fashion industry where some already try to break with the constructions of gender. One of the reasons is that not everybody is raised as open minded as he was raised. Some people have a more conservative way of raising the children and the way they educate themselves throughout life. Smith is getting home-schooled and has the opportunity to choose to learn about the things he finds important. (Jacobs, 2016) The mainstream does not have the space to explore whatever they want to learn in life and cannot afford to fail this. The money is also an issue in this discussion. Smith is able to shop his clothes at the high-fashion brands whereas the mainstream normally shops in the high-street fashion brands as said before. These stores, like Zara, H&M, Forever 21, are still very much conforming the heteronormativity as there stores are still strictly divided in men’s/women’s departments, with divided fitting rooms etcetera. If the high-street fashion brands are not willing yet to break the rules with the gender norms, the mainstream will continue to shop, and therefor dress, in the strictly divided dualistic heternormative stores. The high-fashion industry is very influential in the fashion industry and society at large but to make an actual change within the society, high-street fashion brands need to pick it up and continue their work. It does not mean that Smith has no influence at all; he is a young boy representing a new generation that is known for their behaviour on social media. He has millions of followers on both Instagram and Twitter (Friedman, 2016) and knows how to reach his peers. The next step now is for his peers to try to understand his way of fashion and gender, pick it up and to make an actual change in society.
Smith is breaking with the conventions of the strict division between male and female. His skirts are significance for his own gender fluidity. His skirt is also a part of his performance for not one specific gender; he is performing how he feels about the world and himself. Smith is a representation of a youth culture that is much more aware of the gender construction. Therefore, he is not only subverting gender but also creating a new way of expressing yourself that does not include gender at all. According to Smith clothes are not gendered and thus the division between male and female’s clothes should be replaced by for example a specific style, feelings or the occasion for which you are dressing. It is al about feeling comfortable in your clothes, which reveals how you feel from the inside.
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Jean Paul Gaultier
One of Jean Paul Gaultier’s legendary designs is the La Jupe Pour Homme, in other words The Man Skirt. It was presented to the public as part of his ‘’Et Dieu Créa l’Homme’’ – ‘’And God Created Man’’ – collection. It actually was not a skirt; it was a very wide leg pair of trousers with a wrapover style panel on the front that created the illusion of a skirt. (Jean Paul Gaultier, 2017)
The men skirt of Jean Paul Gaultier caused a shock in the fashion industry and led to awareness of the gender system on the runway. But looking through Butler’s perspective, you cannot completely say that it is subversion of gender norms. The men on the runway in the skirts are models and one could say that the runway is another world were people are not performing their own identity/gender/race/class/feelings etcetera. They are performing as mere masculine/feminine bodies showing clothes that reveal the designers thoughts of the world. The designer chooses what or whom they are performing for as long the show is going on. Gaultier designed the man skirt specifically as a male garment and by doing this he gendered the garment. Therefor, a man has to go to the male’s department in the store to be able to buy it. This design is rather conforming the heteronormativity without stressing any of the gender boundaries. The left man skirt is the first design Gaultier showed on his runway. (Jean Paul Gaultier, (2017) This one is similar to the Scottish traditional kilt – a typical male’s garment – also discussed in the next chapter. The pattern of the skirt is called a tartan that is used originally on the kilt. (V. Kitchen, personal communication, June 3, 2017) The length of the man skirt and the way it is wrapped around the waist is also similar as that of the kilt. According to Kitchen (personal communication, June 3, 2017): ‘’the kilt is a typical male garment and represents masculinity, worn by Scottish men for ages already.’’ It might be a new design for men on the runway presented as a man skirt; it is actually nothing new. The name The Man Skirt is more provocative than the skirt itself is. Because Gaultier is adding man in the name of the design he is making a garment that is in its origin gender-free into a specific male’s garment. The picture on the right shows a man skirt in black combined with a black leather sweater and a black pair of trousers. The exhibition The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk in New York in fall 2013 was organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The Gaultier exhibition presented a designer’s collections from the 1970s to the present. The curators of the show aimed to explain Gaultier’s excellence in transforming the styles of the street and sexual subcultures into desirable haute couture garments. (Vänskä, 2014) One could say that the leather garments are references to the male gay sexuality and culture were leather is a much used product. According to Vänskä (2014, p. 452): ‘’it shows how fashion is not predicted by the upper classes but by sub- or street cultures.’’ The male gay scene is playing a role in the designs of Gaultier and while he is referencing to the male gay scene, he is conforming the masculinity. In this context through Butler’s perspective, the skirt is actually showing the sexuality and gender of ones wearer that is conforming rather then subverting.
The name of the designs, The Man Skirt, is rather provocative then the designs itself are. They are especially designed for a man to wear and while one is a part of a performance of masculinity due to the fact it references to the Scottish kilt, the other one is referring to the male gay culture where for Gaultier is well known.
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Scottish kilt
The Scottish kilt is a garment specifically for men that resemble a knee-length, pleated skirt. It is originally made from tartan fabric and traditionally worn without any underwear. Since July 1782 the kilt has become firmly fixed as a characteristic Highland garment. It even became the national garment for Scotland as a whole. (Kompanje, 2013)
The kilt is worn not in everyday life anymore but only for formal and special occasions. For example on a wedding, the women wear (short) skirts and (high) heels and the bride a white dress that enhance the femininity while the groom and the male guests are wearing the traditional Scottish outfit. (V. Kitchen, personal communication, June 3, 2017) Thus, the kilt can only be red as a highly masculine performance of ones wearer when the women are binary to it in feminine clothing such as high heels and short skirts. Kitchen (personal communication, June 3, 2017) argues that the kilt on it’s own is not enough; it always have to be a complete outfit. This is an example of how to wear the kilt to a wedding. The shirt can be any colour although it would be nice if it were in harmony with the rest of the outfit for example – often a white one. The shirt is always tucked in when wearing the kilt. The next step is to put on the kilt hose (over knees socks), also in a colour that is in harmony with the rest, and putting on the shoes. It does not really matter what shoes you wear but most of the men wear shoes in the colour matching to the other leather essentials. Next is to fasten the garters under the knee and to fold the socks over it to make sure they are not visible. Now it is time to adjust the kilt, to secure it with a belt and to put on the sparron that should be hanging in the front about seven to ten inches beneath the belt. Over the shirt is worn a typically kilt jacket and to finish the outfit the man is wearing a knife in the socks. (V. Kitchen, personal communication, June 3, 2017)
Wearing the kilt has psychological benefits because women did not adapt this piece of clothing yet. Therefore, men wearing it feel masculine and this is often linked to a sense of freedom and strength. This is attractive to a lot of Scottish women and gives a man a sensuous consciousness of his body. (Kompanje, 2013) The kilt represents a masculine and strong man and this knowledge also changes their appearances. But this is not the case when the kilt is worn without the rest of the outfit. Kitchen (personal communication, June 3, 2017) claims: ‘’it is the complete traditional Scottish outfit that can transform a boy into a man’’. It is not only the kilt that gives men these masculine and strong feelings and appearances, but it needs to be worn in a complete outfit to accomplish it. And the kilt is red as masculine in binary to the women wearing clothes considered being feminine. Without the women, their attraction to the men in kilts and their feminine style of clothing, it would not be able to accomplish highly masculine feelings of men and their surroundings. Men of all ages wear the kilt and as a child you are told that it is a traditional masculine thing that you must be proud. This conservative thought of the kilt keeps the tradition much alive. The man wearing a kilt in a complete outfit on the right occasions is a typical performance for the masculine gender. Although women can wear skirts that are similar to the kilt because of their tartan patterns or the way it is wrapped, it does not subvert any gender repetition of the masculinity. There is a trend of a kilt for women that comes and goes. But the kilt for women is often slightly or significant changed; it is a short skirt that signifies the subject wearing it by showing of the curviness of the subject’s body, which conforms the heteronormativity conventional thoughts of feminine clothes. This feminine skirt is clearly bought at the female’s department in the stores because it is signified as a female’s garment. This mini-skirt might look similar to the kilt but there is a big difference; it is never worn with the same attributes and garments of the traditional Scottish wear but often combined with other typical feminine garments. The skirt might have the same pattern; it does not succeed in the act of subversion. Thus, the traditional masculine kilt is definitely not received as a feminine or ungendered garment. The kilt is worn in a performance of the construction of masculinity as it stands for toughness, freedom, courage and their bodily appearances. (Kompanje, 2013)
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Conclusion
Smith does not see the difference in male and female’s clothes, which is in contrast with Gaultier and the Scottish people. The significance of Smith’s skirt is what he wants the express through his clothes. He expresses his feelings about himself and the world around him and this does not necessary include gender at all. Although he now might be a representation of non-binary people, this can be considered as a step before accepting that there is no gender in clothes and fashion constructed at all and that people in Western culture can also express something completely else through fashion. To a certain extent Smith is subverting the gender norms but his intention is not only to show that gender is a construction, but more important that clothes are not gendered at all. He tries to educate his peers about expressing your feelings rather than to try to fit yourself into the boxes divided by male and female. In this way the notion of gender that becomes real through iterating actions (Butler, 1990) is not suitable for fashion anymore. Smith is a representation of a youth culture that is more aware of the gender norms and because it has made progress in time, the performativity concerning fashion is becoming out-dated. Except for the traditional Scottish kilt because it is exactly the opposite of Smith, it is a clear representation of masculinity, being strong, freedom and being able to gain woman’s attention. The kilt is not able to do this on its own; the kilt needs to be worn in a complete outfit conforming the strict rules. The kilt is worn to formal occasions such as weddings where women are wearing feminine clothes that are binary to the kilt. To subvert the gender repetition of the kilt has failed, as the woman kilt is rather a feminine version and a fashion trend that does not raise awareness of gender constructions at all. Gaultier’s Man Skirt is confirming the heteronormativity as he expresses masculinity and male gay culture through a design that is not as provocative as its name is. The first man skirt was not even a skirt but a very wide pair of trousers with a wrapover style panel. The skirt was a reference to the Scottish traditional kilt with a tartan pattern and a similar look of wrapping it around the body. The other Man Skirt discussed in this paper is rather a reference to the gay culture as it is combined with leather garments. Both of the skirts are specifically designed for men so here again a man is not stressing any boundaries as he is just wearing a specific design bought at the male’s department.
Comparing the three different skirts, although a kilt is not to be called a skirt, it gives insight in how the meaning of those skirts is constructed. The meaning can be red through the context of the skirts. The kilt is only a representation of masculinity when it’s a part of a complete outfit to be worn at a formal occasion when the women wear clothes considered to be the binary. The meaning of the man skirt is constructed because male models wore it on the runway during the show of the men’s collection. The name is also a factor: The Man Skirt. It makes clear that Jean Paul Gaultier designed a piece that looks like the female skirt but certainly is not. By adding the man in the name of the design, he is constructing a gender around the skirt while the name skirt is not meant for only men or women. Here is the comparison with the skirt of Smith clear because the meaning of his skirt does not necessary has something to do with a gender but rather with expressing feelings and style.
Resource list
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Friedman, V. (2016). Jaden Smith for Louis Vuitton: The New Man in a Skirt. The New York Times.
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Gutterman, D. S. (2001). Postmodernism and the Interrogation of Masculinity. The masculinities reader, 56-71.
Jacobs, M. (2016). Jaden Smith is the fresh prince of the future. GQ Magazine.
Kitchen, V. (2017, June 3). Personal interview.
Kompanje, E. J. O. (2013). ‘Real men wear kilts’.. The anecdotal evidence that wearing a Scottish kilt has influence on reproductive potential: how much is true?. Scottish medical journal, 58(1), e1-e5.
Legendary designs. (n.d.). Retrieved June 02, 2017, from https://www.jeanpaulgaultier.com/en-us/les-creations-mythiques/
Lehnert, G. (2010). Gender. In L. Skov (Ed.). Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion: West Europe (pp. 452–461). Oxford: Berg. Retrieved May 31 2017, from http://dx.doi.org/10.2752/BEWDF/EDch8075
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Sharkey, L. (2016). ZARA JOINS THE GENDER FLUID MOVEMENT WITH NEW UNISEX CLOTHING LINE. The Independent.
Thejasminebrand. (2016, February 10). Will Smith On Son Jaden Wearing Women’s Clothing [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FAuKK0XFJU
Vänskä, A. (2014). From Gay to Queer—Or, Wasn't Fashion Always Already a Very Queer Thing?. Fashion Theory, 18(4), 447-463.
Woolf, J. (2015). Jaden Smith Tells Us Why He Wore a Batman Suit to KimYe’s Wedding. GQ Magazine.
Images
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Black skirt. Retrieved from https://www.riverisland.nl/women/skirts/mini-skirts/black-faux-leather-high-waisted-mini-skirt-705171
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Jaden Smith for Louis Vuitton. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/07/fashion/jaden-smith-for-louis-vuitton-the-new-man-in-a-skirt.html
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Jaden Smith at Coachella. Retrieved from http://radaronline.com/photos/jaden-smith-wears-dress-flower-headdress-coachella/
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Jaden Smith for Korean Vogue. Retrieved from https://www.buzzfeed.com/juliegerstein/jaden-smith-is-wearing-a-skirt-and-nail-polish-in-a-new-vogu?utm_term=.mdJBRkJAd#.jvAKMPDpo
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Jaden Smith post on Instagram: Went To Topshop To Buy Girl Clothes, I Mean ‘’Clothes’’. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/c.syresmith/
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The first ‘Man Skirt’. Retrieved from https://www.jeanpaulgaultier.com/en-us/les-creations-mythiques/
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The Man Skirt on show of Jean Paul Gaultier. Retrieved from https://nl.pinterest.com/bjorzh/skirts/?lp=true
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Traditional Scottish wedding. Retrieved from https://nl.pinterest.com/pin/563653709586881012/
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Woman wearing kilt. Retrieved from http://www.heritageofscotland.com/kilt_outfits_ladies